10/17/2016 3:49 PM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

EXCLUSIVE

Billy Bush and NBC have reached a financial settlement on his "Today" contract ... officially ending his employment with the network after the Donald Trump tape leaked.

Sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations tell us Billy is happy with the final numbers ... which are confidential. As we reported, Bush had just joined NBC's flagship show in August, signing a 3-year deal for $3.5 million per year.

5/20/2016 7:15 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

Puffy pumped up this summer's Bad Boy Reunion Tour on the 'Today' Show Friday morning ... and while the stage was packed with superstar singers and rappers -- Kathie Lee's partner in crime stole the show. Check out her super close, semi-grinding moves on P. Diddy.

The crew performed a bunch of hits, including a tribute to Notorious B.I.G. built around his "Mo Money Mo Problems" verse. It was a little awkward ... kinda like Hoda's impromptu audition.

11/23/2015 12:45 PM PST BY TMZ STAFF

2:10 PM PT -- The Taxi & Limousine Commission says it's giving the cab driver 2 options: pay a $500 fine or have a hearing where he could possibly have his license suspended up to 30 days.

The same cabbie already paid a $200 fine in May for refusing to pick up someone ... according to the TLC. Al tells us, "I appreciate the TLC's prompt attention to his matter and look forward to a proper resolution."

Al Roker was racially profiled by a NYC cab driver and got so PO'ed about it ... he filed a report with the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission.

Roker says he and his 13-year-old son Nick were trying to hail the cab when it passed them up for a white guy standing on the next block.

The “Today” weatherman vented on Twitter about how painful it was to explain to his son why the cabbie dissed them. He added ... not all NYC taxi drivers are bad, but he wants to "weed out the bad apples.”

11/17/2015 4:55 AM PST BY TMZ STAFF

Charlie Sheen said it directly, "I'm here to admit I'm in fact HIV positive" -- and defiantly stated he would no longer fork over millions of dollars to buy silence from friends and sexual partners.

Sheen spoke calmly about his diagnosis with Matt Lauer on "Today"... saying he needed to "put a stop to this onslaught of attacks and untruths." He said he's known for roughly 4 years that he is HIV positive, and had "told enough people that I've trusted to be in the position that I'm in today."

TMZ broke the story ... Charlie says he was betrayed by people he trusted with knowledge of his diagnosis, but they ended up revealing it. Lauer asked if Sheen was still paying people, and he said ... "Not after today I'm not! I release myself from this prison today."

He also talked about the moment he found out about the diagnosis, saying he initially thought he had a brain tumor. As for infecting others ... Sheen said he's warned all of his sexual partners ahead of time -- and there were only 2 with whom he'd had unprotected sex, but they "were under the care of my doctor."

As we've reported ... our sources say Charlie has paid several settlements to sexual partners who said they were NOT warned ahead of time.

Sheen says he doesn't know how he contracted the virus, but feels he has "a responsibility now to better myself and to help a lot of other people."

See also

9/9/2015 6:30 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

Caitlyn Jenner takes issue with the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. investigation that concluded speed was a factor in the fatal PCH crash.

Jenner told Matt Lauer on "Today" she was going 46 in a 50 zone and therefore she was not speeding. TMZ broke the story, the Sheriff's Dept. concluded Jenner should have been going much slower because traffic had been stopped, and just barely started moving again.

As we reported, Jenner slammed on her brakes a few seconds before the crash and, as she told Lauer, was only a half second away from averting the crash.

Nonetheless, it seems unlikely the D.A. will file criminal charges, but Jenner had some harsh words for the L.A. County Jail system and the way it treats transgender people.

6/19/2015 6:51 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

Brian Williams tried explaining to Matt Lauerwhy he lied about war and other stories, but he may have dug a deeper hole for himself.

Williams appeared on "Today" Friday and said the last 5 months have been "torture" for him.

Matt began probing for motive, and Brian said he somehow drew a truth line ... when he got out of his anchor chair and did a talk show, he got "sloppier" because he felt the pressure of having to be quick and funny.

Matt then followed up and asked about lies Brian told in the anchor chair, and Brian said, "It came from a sloppy choice of words."

It doesn't make sense ... in the anchor chair there was no pressure to be quick or funny ... so how is that a "sloppiness" issue rather than a lying issue?

See also

6/16/2015 8:15 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF

EXCLUSIVE

The lies keep coming from Rachel Dolezal... according to her father, who says she told another big one to Matt Lauer when she talked about drawing herself with brown crayons.

Larry Dolezal tells TMZ it simply never happened -- he never saw his daughter using brown crayons instead of "peach" ... as she claimed she did when she was 5 years old. He says she didn't start "fantasizing" herself as black until her 20s or 30s.

After watching Rachel on "Today"... her father thinks she's still trying to deceive people, and says he wishes she would just be honest. He has no problem with her identifying as black and assimilating into the culture ... as long as she's honest about who she is.

Dolezal added, "What would you think if I said to you since I adopted 4 African-American children I'm going to identify as black. I have a pretty good tan. Is that enough?"